As far as I can tell the students are happy because they actually get to choose the topic of their presentation. Projects and homework are part of life as a student, but ( in my experience ) most teachers tell you what subject you have to use ( as in, the same exact thing for every student, or a narrow range of topics for everyone to choose from ) which is boring as hell.

As for excluding Larissa I get the feeling that she’s probably crossed lines and/or abused that sort of freedom before. At least going by her actions in the archives and the look on the teachers face in the second panel.

All I’m going to say is that was a smart move on the teacher’s part. Otherwise day of show Larisa would drag Landon into class with one had and a folding cot in the other. It would be all downhill from there.